You’ve already made it

Sometimes I get really fed up with the way people perceive writing and writers. I’m talking about (mostly) other authors, on Twitter and Facebook and Instragram and where ever, and I get that they’re trying to be motivating, but I feel like writing, as a form of art, has an unhealthy perspective. You’ll see a lot of people posting, reblogging and retweeting various motivational posters and memes, or writing status, along the lines of:

“Keep going, keep writing, one day you’ll be published, keep querying, if at first you don’t succeed, write another book.”

And I get it, I do. I post a lot of the stuff myself, because it’s helpful, it’s motivational and inspiring to see or know where other people are, and to see how other people work. It makes you feel less alone, and like you’re on the right track.

But at the same time, I think – If you’ve written a book, you’ve already made it.

I get that in some people’s eyes, in a lot of people’s eyes actually, traditional publishing is the only thing that matters. I get that for indie published authors, the amount of 5 stars you have, and the amount of books you’ve written makes you seem more professional. But if someone told you they were a painter, would you ask them what gallery they were exhibited in? Or if someone says they play a lot of classical music on piano, and in fact they’ve just taught themselves another piece by Mozart, would you ask them where they perform? Isn’t it odd that when it comes to writing, the writing itself is never considered much of a feat? Or is it just me that sees it this way?

Of course I understand that there’s a lot of work that comes after the writing – the editing, the publishing, the marketing and so on. But that doesn’t mean you haven’t written and are not an author. It just means that maybe those things come second to your art? Couldn’t it mean that?

I for one know I’d be much more satisifed with writing a great book few people read than the other way around. It’s not to say we don’t all as authors, long for success, but could we just take a moment to pat ourselves on the back and say, well done?

..It seems like that’s what everyone else is doing..